Civil Disobedience PBL

The "Civil Disobedience PBL", based on Henry David Thoreau's famed essay, tasked students with planning a safe and legal act of Civil Disobedience, which would have a direct positive impact on their community. All of the AP Language and Composition students from our campus traveled to the Outdoor learning center where they were mixed into teams across classes. (The morning part of the field trip required students to read Emerson's "Nature" individually, and to reflect or create something inspired by their nature walk. We completed the PBL in the afternoon.)

Students were then given only 2 hours, 1 sheet of giant poster paper, and their personal technology to complete their task. Below is the protest plan from a student sample, "Saving our Saviors", which judges and students alike agreed was a best final product, and a whole collection of team posters. (Keep in mind students only had two hours to complete everything. Done again, I would likely give them an extra half hour or limit their research time.)

In the future, I would challenge students to implement their act of civil disobedience after revising their plan based on peer to peer and judge's feedback, and to document their progress and outcomes to present with the class.